| SZD 56 Diana | |
|---|---|
| Role | 15 Meter-class sailplane |
| National origin | Poland |
| Manufacturer | PZL-Bielsko, Diana Sailplanes |
| Designer | Bogumił Bereś, Krzysztof Kubryński |
| First flight | 29 November 1990 (Diana)[1], 12 January 2005 (Diana 2) |
The SZD-56 Diana is a 15 metre class glider originally designed by Bogumił Bereś at PZL-Bielsko. However PZL Bielsko went bankrupt before it could be put into serial production. The rights to the design were taken over by a new entity, Diana Sailplanes, which developed the design further and called it the Diana 2. This glider first flew on 12 January 2005.
At 2006 World Gliding Championships in Eskilstuna (Sweden) Janusz Centka flew a Diana 2 and won the 15 metre class.
Sebastian Kawa won all three FAI World Grand Prix Championships in Diana 2 and is current World Champion. The first World Grand Prix Championships were organised in 2005 in St. Auban, France, the second in 2007 in Omarama, New Zealand and the third in 2010 in Santiago, Chile.
The Diana 2 features a number of structural innovations, including a spar-less wing. It also has an unusual side-stick control system to accommodate the pilot in its unusually narrow cockpit. The possible water ballast in the wings is by almost 60 kg (130 lb) higher than the empty weight of the glider so that the Diana 2 has a very large range of wing loadings from 28 to 58 kg/m² (5.7 to 11.9 lb/ft²).[2]
The Diana is a single-seat high-performance 15-metre class sailplane. It is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with a T-tail unit. It has an all composite carbon-aramid-epoxy structure. The wing has plate airbrakes protruding from the upper surface only with full-span flaperons. The Diana has a retractable main landing gear with a fixed tail wheel.
Data from [2]
General characteristics
Performance
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